Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Today in History for Feb. 10, 2015

Andrew Pickens of South Carolina
Feb. 10, 1763 – The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War, and France ceded Quebec to Great Britain.

Feb. 10, 1777 - The Battle of Carr's Fort took place in Wilkes County, Ga. Colonel Andrew Pickens of South Carolina with Colonel John Dooly and Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke of Georgia led 340 men in an attack against a group of approximately 200 Loyalists under the command of Colonel John Hamilton. The Patriots abandoned the seige when they learned that several hundred loyalists were approaching to support Hamilton. The loyalists were surprised and routed at the Battle of Kettle Creek.

Feb. 10, 1840 – John S. Crawford was born. He would go on to serve in Co. B, 3rd Alabama Confederate Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. He died in 1928 and is buried at Old Bethany Baptist Church at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Feb. 10, 1861 – Jefferson Davis was notified by telegraph that he had been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America. Davis remained president of the Confederacy until its government was dissolved on May 5, 1865. Less than a week later, he was captured by the Union and jailed for two years. He died at age 81 in New Orleans in 1889.


Feb. 10, 1862 – During the Civil War, a Union naval flotilla destroyed the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.

Feb. 10, 1862 – Richard Hartsfield, 31, of Butler County, Ala. was murdered by two slaves, Simon and Lewis, at Monterey. A few days later, a large mob would burn Simon and Lewis to death as punishment. (The History of Butler County, pages 124-128)

Feb. 10, 1863 - PT Barnum staged the wedding of little people Gen. Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren.

Feb. 10, 1879 - The electric arc light was used for the first time.

Feb. 10, 1881 - The Alabama Legislature established Tuskegee Institute as a "normal school for the education of colored teachers." The law stipulated that no tuition would be charged and graduates must agree to teach for two years in Alabama schools. Booker T. Washington was chosen as the first superintendent and arrived in Alabama in June 1881. Washington's leadership would make Tuskegee one of the most famous and celebrated historic black colleges in the U.S.

Feb. 10, 1897 - "The New York Times" began printing "All the news that's fit to print" on their front page.

Feb. 10, 1915 - Alabama journalist Grover C. Hall Jr. was born in Montgomery, Ala.

Feb. 10, 1920 - Major league baseball representatives outlawed pitches that involve tampering with the ball.

Feb. 10, 1922 – In the fictional video game, “Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth,” private investigator Jack Walters was rescued by the USS Urania, a Coast Guard cutter which was part of a group heading to Devil's Reef, following up on a lead provided by the FBI. On the way there, wizards on the reef summoned powerful tidal waves to destroy the flotilla, but Jack killed them.

Feb. 10, 1928 – Confederate veteran Howell Crenshaw of Evergreen, Ala. passed away.

Feb. 10, 1943 – Little Eva crash survivor 2nd Lt. John Dyer died.

Feb. 10, 1946 – Baseball legend Jackie Robinson and Rachel Isum were married.

Feb. 10, 1955 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Wayne Thames had been named Alabama’s “Future Farmer of the Year” and that he would receive the $300 Turner E. Smith Educational Award and an engraved cup during the State FFA Convention in June. Thames was a member of the Lyeffion, Ala. FFA Chapter and “was selected on a basis of his leadership in FFA, school and community in addition to his outstanding farming program.”

Feb. 10, 1961 - The American Football League's Los Angeles franchise was transferred to San Diego.

Feb. 10, 1967 - The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment required the appointment of a vice-president when that office became vacant and instituted new measures in the event of presidential disability.

Feb. 10, 1970 – Walter Poole and Eugene Darby were elected to Sparta Academy’s board of directors, increasing the board’s membership from five members to seven. The other board members included Eldon Scott, president; Sam Cope, Dr. Cecil Price, L.W. Price Jr. and John Greel Ralls. The board also scheduled a March 3 open meeting at the Murphy Club in Evergreen, Ala. to allow parents to receive information about the school.

Feb. 10, 1980 – Nine years after the famous D.B. Cooper hijacking, eight-year-old Brian Ingram uncovered a package in the sand along the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon that contained three packs of $20 bills from the hijacking.

Feb. 10, 1985 – Mildred Riggs Price, 67, of 102 South Main St. in Evergreen, Ala. passed away in a Brewton nursing home. She was a retired school teacher who taught in Conecuh County schools for over 30 years. Her late husband, Dr. Everette Price, was the county coroner for over 40 years.

Feb. 10, 1996 - Chess champ Gary Kasparov was defeated by Deep Blue, the IBM computer.

Feb. 10, 2000 – The Bank of Evergreen announced that Timothy P. Dantz had joined their staff as Executive Vice President.

Feb. 10, 2003 – France and Belgium broke the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.

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